EB-5 Regional Center Program Authorization has been extended

The United States congress has extended the Regional Center (RC) program until March 23rd, 2018. This is significant, as it may provide the most promising legislative option to get a solid look at reform and of a longer term approval for the RCs. This latest update provides Congress and existing EB-5 authorities to negotiate for another month, as well as investors another month to file their EB-5 under the $900,000 minimum requirement.

It is worth noting that the Regional Center program is being dealt with as a related but separate issue in terms of reauthorization. The Direct EB-5 program is not subject to the reauthorization deadline on March 23rd, 2018. The Direct EB-5 will be able to continue without affect from the Regional Center programs window, but changes to investment amounts and Targeted Employment Areas will still affect the Direct EB-5 programs.

The issues that will be raised if the regional center program is reauthorized remain to be seen for existing EB-5 Regional centers and for those already in the approval pipeline.